Lawsuit slams S.F. police shooting of man with Taser

Family says officers used excessive force on man armed with Taser

Updated 8:25 am, Saturday, August 23, 2014

Supporters of a City College of San Francisco student who was shot and killed by police in Bernal Heights Park while carrying a Taser stun gun marched from the park to the city's federal courthouse Friday as his family filed a civil rights lawsuit.

The suit, which alleges excessive force and seeks unspecified damages, disputes the San Francisco police account that 28-year-old Alex Nieto pointed the Taser he carried for his job as a security guard at officers on March 21, prompting the shooting.

"He was a law-abiding person, and he would not foolishly point a Taser at officers who had guns on him," said attorney John Burris, who is representing Nieto's family. "We believe that did not happen, and we believe that it did not happen the way the officers claimed it did."

The march to the U.S. District Court was led by traditional ethnic dancers. As supporters left the park, they chanted, "No justice, no peace!" and "Brown lives matter!"

"He was a good man who did not deserve to be killed," said Benjamin Bac Sierra, a friend of Nieto.

Carol Jauch (right) joins other protesters at a rally and march from Bernal Heights Park to the Federal Building demanding justice for Alex Nieto in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014. The demonstrators are angry that the police shot and killed Nieto, who was holding a taser, in the park early on March 21. San Francisco police released the names of four officers involved in the shooting on Friday, Jan. 2, 2015, following a court order. less

Carol Jauch (right) joins other protesters at a rally and march from Bernal Heights Park to the Federal Building demanding justice for Alex Nieto in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014. The ... more

Teresa Almaguer blesses a memorial for Alex Nieto before a rally and march from Bernal Heights Park to the Federal Building in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014. The demonstrators are angry that the police shot and killed Nieto, who was holding a taser, in the park early on March 21. The family is filing a lawsuit in federal court Friday. less

Teresa Almaguer blesses a memorial for Alex Nieto before a rally and march from Bernal Heights Park to the Federal Building in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014. The demonstrators are angry that ... more

Nieto's friends and family said he had gone to the park to eat dinner, as he often did, and they don't believe he had been acting erratically or threateningly. They said he was a practicing Buddhist who displayed compassion and purpose.

Lived in the Mission

Nieto was a lifelong Mission District resident who had been studying at City College to become a juvenile probation officer. He spent his free time volunteering at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center and with Homey, a nonprofit youth empowerment group in the Mission.

Police Chief Greg Suhr said officers approached Nieto while investigating reports of an armed man pacing and, at one point, holding his hand on a holster as he ate chips. Some witnesses said they saw an armed man air-boxing, and pointing a weapon at a dog that came too close.

"They believed he had a firearm," Suhr said at a community meeting after the shooting. "They fired in defense of their lives."

Used Taser on friend

Some of Nieto's friends said he had been depressed before the shooting and hadn't been acting like himself. One former friend had filed a restraining order against him a few weeks earlier for allegedly using his Taser on him four times in front of his wife and son.

The lawsuit filed Friday asserts that the person who called 911, drawing police officers to the park, never said Nieto had bothered anyone or made any threatening gestures.

When police arrived at the park to confront Nieto, the suit states, officers were 75 to 100 feet from him and gave one order - "Stop" - before he was shot nine times in two volleys of bullets. An unnamed witness quoted in the lawsuit says that Nieto never reached for the Taser on his hip.

Police officials declined to respond to the suit Friday, and would not release the names of the officers who opened fire, citing threats to their safety.

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